The Opposition is calling on the provincial government to address what it calls “administrative bloat” at Memorial University before “forcing” the university to have to hike tuition by cutting tuition offsets.
Education critic Barry Petten met with members of the Canadian Federation of Students and MUN President Vianne Timmons to better understand the impact of proposed tuition increases on the university. Petten believes the priorities are out of order, and to raise revenue on the backs of students without taking a meaningful look at expenditures is a “backward approach.”
Education Minister Tom Osborne says giving the university greater autonomy and making it less dependent on government should force the changes needed. He told VOCM this week that the AG will have unfettered access to determine whether spending at the university is appropriate, while MUN will also have to appear before the House of Assembly Estimates Committee to provide a line-by-line review of their budget.
Petten says the 2020 compensation disclosure for Memorial shows 314 employees making more than $150,000 a year. 85 of those 314 are in administrative roles.
He says eliminating the tuition offset without determining the impact of what he calls administrative bloat is not good enough.
